Lonely Hearts
by brenstal
Summary: The Warblers are eating at Breadstix with New Directions when they learn some interesting things about the new kid, Kurt. Spoilers up to Silly Love Songs in Season 2.


A/N This is my first fanfic in a really long time, and my first ever in this fandom. So, yeah, warning for descriptions of bullying, shaky characterization, aimlessness, and general laziness. I'll try to make it as not cringe worthy as possible. Also, spoilers up to "Silly Love Songs;" if you haven't seen the Valentine's Day episode then GTFO. (and go watch it…) ;) I haven't seen the episode for a while, and I don't even remember where people were sitting, so things are probably going to be off. Just roll with it.

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><p>After singing their love songs in the Lonely Hearts Club it had already gotten pretty late. It was 9pm, and hardly anyone was still there besides the Warblers and a lot of the New Directions kids who had come to support Kurt. The Warblers all began to mingle with the New Directions members who had come to Breadstix to see them perform. Blaine thought it was sort of sweet, seeing the two teams get along. Well, everyone but Rachel, who was sending the Warblers pained glares and shifted toward the dividing wall in the booth she sat at. He saw Kurt grab her hand smilingly and lead her back toward the bathroom area, where they could talk alone for a while. He remembered that Kurt had needed to talk to her about a costume she wanted to work on, and hoped Rachel was ready for the long-winded conversation that was bound to happen now that Kurt had been asked for advice on clothes.<p>

Blaine considered himself a social maverick, the kind of person who fit into any group (and who tries harder than he'd like to admit to make it that way.) He can be a fashion and musical geek for Kurt, a dapper lead singer for the Warblers, and a strong friend to Wes and David. As a likable chameleon, he decided to mingle a little and just circle the room.

"So, you're a cheerleader. You must be really flexible…" Oh, Jeff. He glanced over to see the blonde boy talking to some Latina girl over at a table. To his surprise, considering how bad that line sounded, the girl leaned forward and started purring words into Jeff's ear.

Slowing shuffling forward, he suddenly felt something brush the side of his knee. He looked down to see Artie rolled around in his wheelchair with Brittany curled up in his lap, trying to show the Warblers how he can hover on one wheel and spin.

Blaine backed away a little, then heard, "…he was disrespectin' my space, reaching over to grab my waffles like that. And you can't take that shit from those clowns in juvie, or they'll just walk all over you. It was instinct when I stabbed through his hand with my fork, then he started crying…" Puck was leaning forward in his seat next to Lauren, who looked on with a smirk, as a cluster of shocked-looking Warblers and a less-stunned Finn stood around him listening.

Scanning the tables, he saw Mercedes and Sam talking at a booth not too far away, with Wes on the other side. Tina and Mike where on the booth seat in back of them, the two Asians paying full attention to each other as they embraced. He approached them.

"Wow, so you put a show together right there and won sectionals with it? That's less impressive than the Warbler's acapella, cohesive sound, I mean we can play the ukulele with our voices, but you must be the pride of William McKinley."

Sam snorted. "Dude, if we wanted to impression people at McKinley, show choir is the worst thing to go into."

"Your show choir isn't popular?" Wes shrieked, like the idea was too shocking to bear. "The Warblers are like rock stars at Dalton."A few Warblers were drawn to the table by Wes's harsh voice. A stressed Wes was never a positive thing.

"Yeah, the jocks are kind of brutal," Sam says. "We actually lose coolness from being in Glee Club. They throw slushies at us." Many of the Warblers who had wandered over looked horrified.

"How could the administration let them do that?" Thad asked. "Those hoodlums should be expelled."

"At McKinley, it's like the teachers don't notice huge, colorful puddles on the floor. At least there's too much of me to throw into a dumpster. Scrawny little Kurt got that practically every morning for a year or two." Mercedes looked kind of like it was suppose to be a joke. The Warblers who had gathered around her weren't really laughing.

"They threw Kurt in the trash?" Wes asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean. He usually landing on something soft and made a comment about his hair." Mercedes snorted at the expressions as more Warblers were drawn toward their conversation. Private school boys were so sensitive. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Mostly, the jocks are harmless. They'll just throw a slushie in your face or knock your lunch tray on the floor."

"No, they were worse to Kurt," Tina said quietly, momentarily detaching herself from Mike, "I remember one time, Kurt opened his locker and they had poured syrup all over his books and extra clothes. They left a note on top, 'why don't you kill yourself before we do it for you.' I was so scared for him, and I wanted him to tell Mr. Shue or someone. All he did was shrug and say he'd gotten prank calls at his house that were eight times scarier than that note." Tina's expression was haunted. She snuggled into Mike a little further. "From then on, I usually tried to walk on the outside of Kurt when we were in the hallway, so it would be harder for the jocks to locker slam him. It was the only thing I could really think of." Tina shrugged sadly, before lazily nuzzling into Mike's shoulder.

"Well, Kurt's really dramatic though," Quinn defended, having come over to see what the others were talking about and noting the judging looks that the Warblers were shooting their way. "He never really told us much about what was happening. We saw that Karofsky was singling him out more, shoving him into lockers and throwing his stuff on the ground, but he's always been treated a little different than the rest of us. He comes to school all flamboyant and arrogant; it freaks people out. Besides, he never actually told us to help him."

"He shouldn't have had to tell his team to help him!" David had his fists clinched. He had noticed that Kurt was kind of skittish, but he'd never thought it was because the kid was use to being harassed at school. "I mean, you saw him getting pushed around and terrorized, and you did nothing."

Most of the New Directions members looked ashamed at that. Sam, who had been listening quietly for a while, said "we tried to fight Karofsky, tell him to back off. It was just too late."

"After Kurt's dad found out about the death threat, there really wasn't much we could do," Quinn added. The other members of New Directions scowled at the thought of the death thread, and Mercedes might have just growled. Well at least they took something seriously.

"Death threat? Kurt didn't tell me that asshole threatened to kill him," Blaine asked. "I thought he transferred because of the…" His voice faded. It wasn't his place to say that. "Because he was finally tired of all the bullying."

"You mean assault," Wes corrected quietly, his lips thin and tight.

By now, almost half of the Warblers were hovering around this conversation. Most of them had kind of assumed that Kurt had just wanted to get closer to Blaine and escape some minor teasing. A few, led by Thad, were suspicious that he was a spy who would come in like an adorable kitten and charm them to get good dirt for his old Glee Club. No one really thought he was hiding this, a life of awful sounding bullying.

Blaine took in the faces of his fellow Warblers. David looked angry. He had his hands balled into fists, and his brows were knitted together. Wes looked stern, like he was trying to keep himself contained. Thad's eyes were opened wide and his mouth was set in a concerned frown. The other Warblers looked to be in a mix of horror or anger, and Blaine was proud that they were so bonded with Kurt now that they cared about his well being.

That was when Kurt finally dragged Rachel by the hand back into the main room. The restaurant was quitter now, with fewer individual conversations, so Blaine could hear Kurt say, "Come on, Rachel. I promise there's no master plan to hold your sticker sheet for ransom until you give us the setlist. I bet Mr. Shue isn't even preparing yet anyway."

It was then that Kurt seemed to gauge the feeling of the room. About half his friends were huddled over in a corner looking entirely too sad and frustrated to be at all good. As the only thing really binding the two groups together, he quietly cursed himself for leaving the room for so long. It was just Rachel had asked for fashion advice, and how could he possibly say no to that. She was Rachel Berry; he'd been giving unsolicited advice to her for so long that it would be amazing for her to do more than roll her eyes at it.

He moved over to the unhappy group, leaving Rachel to sit by herself again. "Hey, guys." he said, offering a strained smile, "So, I know it's really depressing to be alone on Valentine's Day, especially next to the perfect Asian couple," he offered a mocking glance at the couple at the booth, "But could you please try not to look like I poisoned your water with arsenic." He gave them a nervous, awkward laugh before letting it die into silence. Now everyone was staring at him, with their sad, cold faces.

"Kurt, why didn't you tell me that Karofsky threatened to kill you? I thought we were being honest with each other." Blaine asked, with an edge creeping into his voice.

"So, you guys all talked about… That." Kurt murmured, barely loud enough hear. He looked Blaine in the eyes, trying to project an 'I'm sorry for not telling you' glean to his eyes, "I just didn't want to, well, have to say it to you. You already looked at me all caring, like your heart was exploding with sympathy. I didn't want to give you more reasons to see how…" He paused, gulping a breath of air as his eyes became glassy. He shifted his glaze to the floor, trying to get under control, "how uncourageous I was. How I just couldn't handle things. I just wanted a clean slate, where no one knew about it."

Blaine couldn't stand to see his friend looking so defeated. He reached forward, pulling Kurt into a hug. He felt Kurt stiffen for a second, before melting into his touch. "I had no idea is was that bad," Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear, "You were brave to stay so long, and you were brave to leave when you were so trapped. You are courageous." He felt David wrap his arms around them, then Wes did the same. Pretty soon Kurt was in the middle of a huge cluster of people who smelled a little too much like Axe Body Spray. He could feel Mercedes reassuring hard give him a shoulder squeeze, before letting go and backing up. The large group untangled itself, with Blaine loosening his grip last.

Kurt smiled, feeling the support from the people around him. "I made myself fight it alone before. All the bullying, I didn't realize that it would matter if I complained." He smiled at his friends, both new and old. "Thanks for being supportive." Then he grabbed Blaine's hand and walked over to the table with Rachel, who was still looking warily at the Warblers.


End file.
